11/18/2015

This morning was hectic, busy, stressful and tense. There was grocery shopping that needed to be done. "School" needed to be done. The house is a mess (a huge stress for me), we were supposed to have a club meeting and I was tired. I wasn't able to fall asleep until after 3 this morning and was up shortly after 7. Most certainly not enough sleep.

Earlier this afternoon, I attempted to make everyone take a "quiet time" so that I could take a much needed nap. It was anything but quiet.

Later this afternoon all is peaceful. Children are doing things that they enjoy.

11/12/2015

Our original plan for this academic year was to NOT order a boxed curriculum. Each year we purchase something and about half way through (if not sooner) we are all doing our own thing. We both agree that children learn best when it's a topic/subject they are interested in. Something that is relevant to them at the moment. These are the lessons that stick with them. The lessons that are truly learned. So, we decided to allow the kiddo's to pursue their own interests this year. To work with them in providing and gathering materials. To learn right alongside them. I spent the summer creating a wonderful environment for natural learning. We purchased books, games, gadgets, craft supplies, etc., that we knew the kiddo's would be interested in.

Then, 1 week before the official "start" day for local schools... I panicked! After discussing my panic episode, we broke down and purchased a very rigorous, boxed curriculum. Each and every child is now enrolled. We have large 3 ring binder folders full of lesson plans and bins full of workbooks and literature books. We send in work and grade papers.

The kiddo's (most of them) were excited to receive their big school box full of new, shiny books. Each child received their own box addressed specifically to them. There were a lot of giggles and overall giddiness.

We started our school year the same time the local schools did. We are pretty close to being where we should be. A couple of them are actually ahead a few weeks.

Are we happy with our last minute decision? For the most part yes. The girls really enjoy and dive right into their lessons. They are thriving on the structure. In most subjects they are able to complete several days lessons. The boys are enjoying the reading books, science, history and geography. Not so much English :) They do a little more fussing about lessons but once they get going they work hard.

I am comforted knowing that if the Lord closes the door on homeschooling for us, and we have to send them to school, they will be able to slide right in without any difficulties.

I am a huge supporter of unschooling. It makes so much sense to me. To both of us. Unfortunately I have a boat load of deschooling to accomplish.

However, this is where we are right now.

We started out working until each day's lessons were complete. Some days this took until bedtime. This most certainly was not what I/we wanted. What's the sense in homeschooling if you are spending just as much time on it as the brick and mortar schools are? The kiddo's had no time to focus on their passions. We changed that real quick. Now, I only make the kiddo's work until lunch time. After lunch they are able to pursue any passions they have for the rest of the day. It's a compromise I've made with my own insecurities. So far it's working.

Will structured learning be a permanent for us? I don't know. As of right now I plan on talking to the kiddo's and getting their input after each quarter. So, I guess we'll play it quarter by quarter. ;) The first quarter interview is coming up quickly.

In the meantime I'll be working on my insecurities and much needed deschooling.

11/11/2015

It's been a very long time since I've posted anything. I miss journaling our memories, it's really wonderful to be able to look back at all the fun we've had and what we were doing when. Time to begin again...

01/25/2015

Saturday was a bustling, busy day for us. After breakfast we headed to the church for confession. Once home we needed to prepare for an early lunch in order to take the big girls to meet their dad for the weekend. Believe it or not we actually left pretty close to when we needed to. We ended up only being 5 minutes late (pretty good for the trips that require everyone to go!).

In between all of that, and after we arrived home from dropping off the big girls, I needed to get all 5 of the younger ones ready for church. I was almost successful, 4 out of 5 got their baths in. All of the littles, except Levi prepared their own tithing envelopes and we rushed to the van once daddy got home. This time we were actually early and were able to participate in a very small part of the Rosary.

After Mass Sarah and Madelyn placed flowers at the feet of the risen Christ and then we headed to the grocery store to get our weekly shopping done. I had been going by myself for quite a long time (occasionally taking the kids). Lately we have been going as a family after Mass and it's working out wonderful.

I quickly made supper when we got home. It was a busy day and a late night. We were all exhausted by bedtime and slept very well. All that busyness led to a restful (for the most part) Sunday. Daddy had to work today, so he isn't resting. He'll have the next 2 days off! Woot!

Sunday~

We all slept in (as usual) until our bodies were ready to wake up. The wake-ups started at around 7am. We were all up by 8:15 or so and the children all enjoyed playing on the Wii u together while I enjoyed my coffee before getting breakfast for everyone.

After breakfast, Sarah and Maddy enjoyed working in MAD LIBS books for awhile. That really led to a tremendous amount of learning. I was concerned that it might be too difficult for Maddy but she quickly set my mind at ease. She required very few reminders of what a noun, adjective, adverb and verb were. I helped her complete the first one and she moved onto the second one by herself. She was writing the words and asking for spelling help. Her hand got a little tired so I finished it up for her. Sarah needed a little reminder as to what an adjective and adverb were. She caught on quickly and continued to work independently while I worked with Maddy. She asked for a few spelling clues but overall was very successful at sounding out the words and spelling them correctly herself.

After lunch the girls grabbed the Telling Time Bingo game and headed for the dining room to play.

Sam and Jonathon headed upstairs to spend another afternoon designing games. Jonathon is doing the actual designing and Sam is doing the shading and highlighting of Jonathon's drawings.

I spent some time cleaning/picking up. Mainly in the kitchen and living room in order to be able to relax and enjoy each other in comfort, remembering what the CCC says:

2185 On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord's Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.123 Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse from the obligation of Sunday rest. The faithful should see to it that legitimate excuses do not lead to habits prejudicial to religion, family life, and health.

Sarah asked this morning what year Jesus was born and when Adam and Eve were created. She was a little confused when I explained that Jesus was born in the year 1 and no-one really knows for sure when Adam and Eve were created. We decided we would create a visual wall timeline to help with understanding. History can be confusing.

Sam is conducting an experiment ~ "What happens when someone drinks water, honey and pickle juice. His enthusiasm for his science experiment spread over to the rest of them and they created their own experiments (all taste related).

The countdown continues. The girls have asked for a Hot Stamp kit. We told them if they still wanted it in 30 days we would buy it for them...

Jonathon working on his sketching skills. He drew the picture seen in the first pic, and was re-sketching it to see if he could improve on it.

Emma making a homemade sketchbook. She purchased several used books and removed the innards to turn them into sketchbooks.

More artwork. This one is by Sam.

The one is by Maddy. She is into sequencing things right now. This sequencing diagram is of how to grow a flower from seeds. :)

01/23/2015

I love it when our day just flows naturally. Everyone is content in their own activities. Today was another one of those days.

Everyone enjoyed playing Wii u

Sarah~

"Mom, what's 3+3+3+1. I already know." (She was quizzing me), filled out Confirmation paper for Sacramental prep., dress-up games online, went over St. Agnes bio., worked on memory verse- Psalm 18:1-2; worked on memorizing the Act of Love prayer and she has also committed to reading one chapter a day of the Bible as part of earning her Love of God patch for Little Flowers.

Samuel ~ spent a lot of time this morning designing a game. It's not completed yet. Minecraft and Lego's

Jonathon~ Minecraft and Lego's

Maddy~Halloween makeup tutorials on Youtube, Google search for a Halloween costumes and Morestarfall.com

Levi~ Morestarfall.com and ABCmouse.com. He also played with his nephew, played dinosaurs, Mario, etc.

After supper they all played marvelously together. No television. Just all the kids, some cars and their imaginations. They also played tickle monster. They would chase each other and whoever was caught would be tickled. Lots of giggling and screaming going on!

Books read today:

Mrs. Wishy Washy

Jake and the Neverland Pirates Look and Find

Don't Push the Button by Bill Cotter

The Story of Ferninand by Munro Leaf

Bumblebee at Apple Tree Lane by Laura Gates Galvin

Betty Bunny Didn't Do It by Michael B. Kaplan (good book about telling the truth)

The Magic School Bus Comes to its Senses

Some other fun from today in pictures...

The girls and I played Brain Quest Smart! Such a cool game :)

Reading

Piano practice

Sarah giving a speech about her Little Flowers group. She decided this evening she wanted to write a speech and present it to us tonight. She did a great job.

Sam has been working real hard to improve his drawing skills. I think he's doing a great job!

Madelyn has been creating "tickets" of Princess Peach. The creating continued today.

09/13/2014

One of the beautiful aspects of homeschooling is the freedom to focus on an area until our children "get it" or until they have an "a-ha" moment.

We had another one of those beautiful "a-ha" moments this past week. Last year we started working on answering questions in complete sentences by using a few choice words from the question and combining them with the answer found in a reading. Sometimes the words from the question need to be rearranged in order to make sense. This was a little confusing for them at first, but Jonathon and Sarah got it after a while. Samuel struggled with the concept.

During a reading lesson this week, while answering the comprehension questions, it finally clicked for Samuel. He was proud of himself for finally getting it, and smiled from ear to ear as he finished his assignment. Then, while working on his geography lesson, he got very creative with his new found knowledge!

He circled all of the words to be used in his answer, used arrows to point to the words new location, AND drew lines from the words he wasn't going to use, to a trash can. YES! I love homeschooling. :)